This invention relates generally to cover systems for spaces and more particularly to undercover systems for use in connection with decks to prevent water passing through the deck entering the space under the deck.
Decks enjoy widespread use today. One of the primary drawbacks in the use of decks is that the space under the deck is not maintained dry because the deck floor members are spaced apart to allow water to pass through the deck. This severely limits the use of the space under the decks. A number of different drainage systems have been suggested for use in keeping the water passing through the deck from wetting the space under the deck. Examples of these prior art systems are set forth in the following patents:
U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date 4,065,883 L. T. Thibodeau January 3, 1978 4,663,894 A. R. LaRoche et al. May 12, 1987 4,860,502 M. M. Mickelsen August 29, 1989 5,511,351 G. M. Moore April 30, 1996
All of these prior art attempts to provide an undercover system for decks have a common problem. That is, all require that the undercover system be permanently attached to the deck structure itself. This creates several problems. One problem is that the systems are difficult to locate on the deck structure in that they require that different sections of the system be individually aligned and attached. Another problem is that the undercover systems makes replacement of deteriorated members of the deck structure difficult and most times require at least partial disassembly of the undercover system for the repair of the deck structure. Yet another problem with these prior art undercover systems is that the spacing between the deck floor members allow debris to pass therethrough as well as water so that the undercover system becomes clogged with the debris. The prior art undercover systems do not provide a way to easily clean the accumulated debris off of the undercover system since there is insufficient clearance to gain access to the top of the undercover system and the undercover system or deck structure has to be at least partly disassembled to clean this debris off of the undercover system.